Alien Knights

Henry the Griffin soared above the Falling Star Mountain Range. The steep ridges, dangerous swamps, and towering snow peaks all became unimpeded flat land under his shoulder-to-shoulder cloud cover.

Hearing the whistling wind in his ears, and feeling the overwhelming pressure on his face, Todd lay on Henry's back, wanting to sing in a happy mood.

This indescribable feeling belongs to those wanderers who have traveled for ten years and set foot on their way home, and the closer they are to their hometown, the stronger it becomes.

This high-altitude journey lasted eleven hours. After two stops to rest, with the third take-off, one person and one bird soon approached the border of Muxi Kingdom.

Fort Watcher, Silver Ring City, Northstone Fortress, these places that Todd was familiar with passed by one by one, and finally, in his field of vision, there appeared dense villages and houses.

Todd patted Henry's neck and shouted happily: "This is Muxi Kingdom! This is my kingdom!"

The latter let out a loud cry, flapped its wings faster, and accelerated towards the distant city.

Sitting on the back of the griffin, Todd looked down, and the continuous buildings on the ground made him secretly startled.

It has only been half a year since I left, and there are so many immigrant populations gathered around, flying all the way from the border, about ten kilometers away, Mu XC District has not yet arrived, but the housing clusters in the immigrant area outside the city are getting denser, and occasionally you can see open-air theaters, parks, entertainment streets, markets and other functional buildings that can only be seen in ordinary towns.

Flying forward for more than a minute, the buildings became taller and taller, and the facades became more luxurious. The densely packed residents shuttled on the street, like a small river flowing endlessly.

The urban area of ​​Muxi City is in sight.

A huge castle under repair stands on the hills of the royal city; countless luxurious buildings are scattered row upon row in the center of the city.

Todd told Henry in the soul space that the height can be lowered.

The griffin folded its wings slightly, tilted its body, and flew towards the urban area below it.

Suddenly, deafening alarm bells sounded in Muxi City, and people looked at the figure swooping down in the sky, screaming and noisily hiding in the nearest building.

Soldiers in full armor lined up from the outpost and set up shield formations, raised their spears, and pulled their bowstrings tight towards the direction where the griffins landed.

Todd, who swooped to the ground riding a griffin, suddenly realized that he had forgotten an extremely important thing.

Before leaving, he actually forgot to inform the officials of Muxi City that he would be returning today...

Hastily ordered Henry to stop the dive, spread his wings, and increase the altitude, one person and one bird began to hover in the air.

Todd immediately entered the soul space and called Cumberland and Huggins to order the army to immediately disarm and withdraw their weapons.

A few minutes later, the crazy Cumberland rode his horse and rushed all the way from the headquarters of the Knights to Muxi Square. While waving his whip, he loudly ordered all the soldiers to line up to meet him.

Huggins was the second to arrive. He had a spinal injury and was unable to ride a horse. He asked his subordinates to drive the carriage and rushed to the square as fast as possible. After getting off the car, he quickly arranged for government officials to clear the venue as soon as possible, and called in the Royal Guard of Honor.

The residents hiding around, seeing this strange scene in front of them, were curious and talked a lot. Some daredevils even ran out of buildings, hid on the edge of the square, and looked up at the monsters in the sky.

Ten minutes later, Todd, who was riding a griffin and hovering in the air, saw that everything below was ready, so Henry slowly descended, and finally landed in the center of the square.

A sharp-eyed person recognized Todd's identity, and shouted excitedly: "It's the Holy Son! The one riding on the monster is the Holy Son!"

After confirming the identity of the visitor, the residents of Muxi City rushed to tell each other, and the news spread quickly in the city as if they had grown wings.

The entire Wangcheng was boiling, wharfs, workshops, markets, taverns... People came out of all kinds of places, gathered into a huge stream of people, and flocked to Muxi Square.

Watching Todd turn over and get off the griffin, Cumberland first looked at the legendary beast in a daze, and then at the tanned and fur-wrapped king, at a loss for words, not knowing what to say.

Huggins was busy commanding soldiers and subordinates, trying his best to maintain order in the square.

Todd looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar scene, laughed and said, "I'm back!"

Two hours later, the public bath.

Soaking in the vast and boundless bathtub, enjoying the temperature from the hot water, the fatigue of the whole body seems to flow out of the body through the pores.

Todd let out an admiration of enjoyment: "A long time ago, I wanted to book a private room to take a bath, and today I finally got my wish."

An abrupt voice ruined his rare and wonderful time: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I still have to remind you that there are hundreds of officials waiting for you outside the door."

Todd squinted at Hudgens who was sitting on the bench, and shouted angrily: "You can also wait for me outside, do you have to sit here and watch me take a shower?!"

"Those officials in the kingdom, I'm worried that you'll be silent again... Sneaking..." Huggins made a gesture of "running away" with his hands, tilted his head and said with a smile: "You understand."

Todd shook his head helplessly, turned his face to the ceiling, and said softly: "Tell me, what happened to the kingdom during the time I was away?"

"Well, let me think about it. Your palace has been basically completed. The structure of Muxi Cathedral is being capped. The farmland in the immigration area has had a bumper harvest. Nearly a thousand administrators have been recruited for the official examination. Muxi College has made great progress in the research of abilities and technology..."

Todd interrupted Hudgens with a wave of his hand: "You should know that's not what I want to hear about."

Huggins sighed: "Just last month, a civil war broke out among the North Islanders. The cause was the distribution of trade profits between the tribes, and later it evolved into an all-out war for dominance. Hundreds of North Island tribes, including the Talon tribe and the Blackhead tribe, participated in this battle. Some members of the North Island Knights left the army and returned to their respective tribes. The successor scouts are currently investigating the details of the situation, so this matter was not discussed at the meeting."

Todd frowned and asked, "What are the opinions within the kingdom?"

"The military faction headed by Lord Cumberland hopes to use force to intervene in this civil strife. The ultimate goal is to conquer the North Island tribe and incorporate it into the Muxi Kingdom; Lord Emerson's Privy Council hopes to use diplomatic means to ease the conflicts among the North Island tribes and facilitate the various forces to reach a compromise and agreement. Within the kingdom, the number of supporters for these two plans is about 50% to 50%."

Todd closed his eyes: "These two methods have problems in feasibility... Is there any more?"

"About Silver Ring City, during the process of cleaning and rebuilding, we discovered some things that may be very important. You should go and see them if you have the opportunity."

With a lazy hum, Todd snorted and said, "If I have time, I will go, is that all?"

"Just the day before yesterday, Pope Alexander sent a public letter..."

Todd opened his eyes suddenly, sat up from the water, looked at Huggins and said in a deep voice, "What did he say?!"

"The church claims to initiate a mediation and order Muxi Kingdom to sell Silver Ring City and allow it to be incorporated into the territory of the Holy Acropolis as a reward for the latter's heroic resistance to the northern barbarians."

"A bunch of shameless bastards!"

Huggins shrugged: "The envoys from the Holy Acropolis arrived in Muxi City a week ago."

With a face full of anger, Todd sneered: "Are you in such a hurry to take over the territory?"

A strange look appeared on Huggins' face, and Todd was puzzled by what he said.

"The envoys from the Holy Acropolis have come to ask for your help. 』